The present invention relates generally to industrial robots of playback type and more particularly to a playback type industrial robot wherein a teaching operation for causing a memory apparatus to memorize working contents can be revised or corrected halfway.
In general, the playback type industrial robot is so adapted that the moving or displacing operation of a movable part may be memorized or taught in the memory apparatus by moving manually the movable part by an operator, and that, in a normal playback operation mode, the movable part operates or moves automatically in accordance with the memorized or taught contents. Accordingly, the playback type industrial robot is not necessitated to arrange a working program through the use of devices such as a pin-board. Therefore, the robot of this type has the advantage that the working contents can be easily and accurately memorized or preset.
The playback type industrial robot known heretofore employs a magnetic tape as a recording medium of the memory apparatus, and is adapted so as to rewind the magnetic tape automatically after a completion of teaching operation. In the case where the teaching operation involves some errors during the teaching and the operation of erroneous contents has been resultingly memorized, the conventional playback type industrial robot has required to be taught again the whole teaching contents from the beginning thereof. Accordingly, the conventional industrial robot is accompanied with difficulties that, when an error of the teaching operation occurs during the teaching operation, the longer period of time is required for correcting or re-teaching operation, and the labor of the operator thereby increases. The above described difficulties become more serious, particularly in the case where the teaching contents is of complicated and the time for teaching operation is thereby long.